This year in 2019, New Zealand will mark 250 years since the first meetings between Māori and Europeans during James Cook and the Endeavour's 1769 voyage to Aotearoa New Zealand.

A national commemoration, Tuia – Encounters 250, will acknowledge this pivotal moment in our nation’s history as well as the exceptional feats of Pacific voyagers who reached and settled in Aotearoa many years earlier.

Commemoration events will be held across the country and in particular will reflect the ambitions of these unique communities.

There are already significant preparations underway to ensure Tuia – Encounters 250 is a commemoration all New Zealanders will want to be a part of.

The commemoration uses a Māori name (Tuia) and European concept of time and commemoration (Encounters 250).

Tuia means ‘to weave or bind together’ and is drawn from a whakataukī (proverb) and karakia (ritual chant) that refers to the intangible bonds established between people when they work together.

The logo references waka hourua (double-hulled voyaging canoes) and tall ship rigging, Pacific binding, raranga (weaving), the shape of a hull and the inter-lacing of our dual heritage. The key font used in the logo ‘Bodoni’ was designed in the late 18th century and was seen at that time to embody the future and ‘the rational thinking of the Enlightenment’.